How To Use 0% APR Credit Card Deals To Save During The Holidays

• 0% APR credit cards offer zero interest on purchases and/or balance transfers for a number of months. 
• Shop around to compare the available 0% APR deals to find the best offer.
• Set up a repayment plan with an automatic payment from your bank account to make sure the balance is repaid within the offer period.

According to the Deloitte Holiday Retail Survey report, Americans plan to spend an average of $1,463 per household on presents during this year’s holidays. This is a 5% increase from last year.

This is no mean change and credit card companies know this. That is where you see many zero-interest credit card (0% APR) offers on your TV, email or mailbox. Using different types of credit cards for your holiday expenses, including cash back credit cards, is not a bad thing. However, you need to know how the offers associated with these credit cards work and how to get the maximum benefits from the deal.

0% APR credit cards are worth looking into if you are looking for consumer protection and other incentives as well as more time to repay off your debt. Note that this can be as long as two years.

This type of card has several advantages: it allows for spending flexibility, access to opportunities to earn rewards and you pay 0% interest on the money you spend as long as you set up a repayment plan. Here is how the 0% APR credit card works:

How Does a 0% APR Credit Card Work?

When you use a 0% APR credit card, you will not be required to pay any interest on your purchases  and/or qualifying balance transfers for some months (usually between six and 21 months). Afterwards, it becomes a normal credit card that requires you to pay interest on the remaining balances.

For example, if you get a zero-percent APR credit card with a 0% APR offer of up to 18 months, you will not be required to pay any interest on your purchases for a period of 18 months. This applies to all the purchases, from the first purchase, you make during the first 18 months. However, come the 19^th month, you start owing interest like normal.

Note that 0% APR deals are not only limited to purchases. Some providers offer 0% APR when you make bank transfers. In such cases, you can move money from your account and you will not be required to pay any interest on the remaining balance until the offer period is over.

Therefore, to make the most of the 0% APR deals during this holiday season, make sure the card you are interested in nit only offers 0% on balance transfers but also om purchases.  So, here is how you can make the most of the 0% APR credit card deals during the coming holidays.

How To Use A 0% APR Credit Card During this Holiday Season

It since the deals on the 0% APR credit cards are temporary, you are advised to use them to save as much as possible. Here is how:

Compare the available offers

It is easy to be excited when you are offered a 0% APR deal when you are shopping. After all, the deal is always tempting and it would be good to take the goods with you and pay for them later.

But if you are really interested in taking up a 0% APR offer, it would be best to first compare the available deals. This will help you find the best deal for you and you might end up saving more than if you opted to use the first company that offered you a 0% deal.

Take Long 0% APR Offers

Longer 0% APR periods give you ample time to pay off your balance. Currently, the US Bank Visa Platinum Card offers the longest 0% APR deal which charges zero interest on purchases for the first 20 months. The Citi Custom Cash Card, Wells Fargo Platinum Card, and the Blue Cash Every Day Card from American Express are examples of cards with 15 months of zero interest on purchases. The rest of the cards are likely to offer you 0% purchase deals of between 12 and 15 months.

Look for Cards With Low Regular APR

0% Into APR offers are all good, but about when the offer period is over and you are required to start paying interest on your balances? If there is chance that you might to be able to pay off your balance over the promo period, consider the cost of repaying the balance in terms of fees and interest once the 0% APR period ends.

Put a Payment Plan in Place

After you make all your holiday purchases, find out how much you have to repay. Divide this figure with the 0% APR offer period (months). For example, if by the end of the festive season you realize that you have $1,350 to repay within a 15-moth 0% APR period, you should commit yourself to make payments of at least $90 every month to make sure that you pay off the entire balance in time.

To achieve this, you need to set up an automatic payment of this amount from your bank account to your 0% APR credit card service provider. This way, you are sure that your balance will be paid off in time.

In A Nutshell

0% APR credit card deals are simple ways to finance your holiday purchases over a certain period of time without paying expensive interest rates. However, to avoid getting into bad debt, be sure to set up a repayment plat immediately you are done with the purchases to make sure that you repay off the balance with the 0% APR deal period.

Credit cards are great financial tools if you use them well and take prevention measures to avoid sinking deeper into debt.